I'll Be There For You (Abhira fic)

Chapter - 7

The scene at the Birla House is very gruesome. The family had informed the relatives and friends about the death of Manjari. Most of them couldn't believe it. Life is so unpredictable sometimes. They put the body of the Manjari in the centre for the people to pay their last respects to the deceased. Abhi is sitting silently at the centre still holding Manjari's hands. He hadn't change his clothes till now. Everybody had tried to coax him but he didn't listen to anyone. Abhi still doesn't say a single word. He was just crying silently holding his mother's hand. 

"Harsh ji yeh sab kaise hua. Humne aaj subah toh baat kri thi Manjari ji se", said Swarna sadly. Harsh just joined his hands. He didn't want to talk with these people right now. Why don't people understand how difficult it is for the family to deal with the death and here they are talking about unnecessary things.

"Where is Akshu? Itne important time pr bhi woh apni family ke sath nhi hai", asked Surekha.

"Aap kaun?" asked Harsh. He hadn't seen this lady before. Who the hell is she? Why is she passing comments on his daughter-in-law.

"Ji, mai Akhilesh Goenka ki wife. Mera naam Surekha Goenka hai", replied Surekha giving her introduction to Birlas.

"Look, now Akshara is our family member use kaha hona chahiye kaha nhi yeh hum log decide karenge. Thank you for your concern pr hum apke is sawal ka jawab dena zaroori nhi samajhte", replied Mahima angrily. She is already very upset as her beloved sister left them and here this stupid lady asking silly questions from the grieving family.

Surekha's eyes widen hearing Mahima's reply. She opened her mouth to reply her back but Swarna held her hand and stopped her. Mahima was called by Shefali so she went there. 

"Bhabhi apne mujhe roka kyun? Mai inhe abhi theek kr deti. Inki himmat kaise huyi Surekha Goenka se aise baat krne ki", said Surekha angrily.

"Surekha mauka dekhkar baat kro. Hum log is time kaha khade hai yeh toh dekho", Manish scolded her.  Surekha made a face but kept mum. They all sat down on the floor. 

Manish and Akhilesh tried to go near Abhimanyu and console him but Neil stopped them. "Bade papa please aap abhi bhai ke pass mat jaiye. He needs sometime alone with maa". The family is giving him time to come in terms with his mother's death.

Everyone is coming and paying their condolences to the family members. Suddenly, there was a lot of commotion. Akshara came running to the house and shouted loudly "Maa" looking at her mother's body.

Harsh and other members of the family looked at Akshara astonishingly. Who told Akshara about this? They had already decided to kept Akshara away from this emotional turmoil for some time. Mahima looked at Arohi and she understood it is all her doing.

Akshara skid on the floor and held Manjari's hand. "Maa", shouted Akshara.

"Akshara calm down bacha", said Shefali and started patting her back.

"Bhabhi, maa", said Akshara and started crying hysterically. It brought tears in everyone's eyes, looking at Akshara's state. She was just saying 'Maa'. She is not listening to anyone and pleading from Manjari to get up. 

"Maa, please utho na. Maa aap jo bologe mai woh karoongi but please get up", said Akshara while shaking Manjari up.  Suddenly, she started breathing heavily. The sweat beads started to form on her forehead and on her underarms. The black dots are coming in front of her eyes. Her hands started shivering badly. Her whole face turns red. Shefali and other people got afraid looking at this state of Akshu.

"Akshu, shant ho jaa beta kuch nhi hua hai", said Harsh. "Neil pani lekar aa andar se", Harsh issued the instruction. Neil rushed inside to get water for Akshara. Everybody tried to calm Akshara down but it is of no use. Her condition is getting worse. 

"Bhai, bhabhi needs you right now. Unhe panic attack aa rha hai. Bhai aapke alawa unhe iss time koi nhi sambhal sakta hai", said Neil. He shook his brother hard to bring back in the land of living. Abhi looked at Neil and saw his mouth is moving. 

"Bhai, bhabhi ko panic attack aa rha hai", said Neil again. Instantly, Abhi got up from his sitting position and sit in front of Akshara. He held her hands and started humming the song. 

"Come on, Akshu sing with me", said Abhi in the softest tone. He started humming the song and indicate Akshara to follow him. Akshu started following him and after some minutes her breathing got controlled. Everybody took a sigh of relief. 

"Neil pani", shouted Abhi. Neil hurriedly handed him a glass of water. Abhi carefully helped Akshara in drinking water. "Slowly, slowly", said Abhi in the softest tone.

"Abhi, maa!" said Akshara. She peered him from her wet eyelashes. Abhi instantly pulled Akshara into a hug and started crying loudly. Today, they both lost their mother. They never expected to that they will face this day ever in their life. Neil came from behind and hugged his bhaiya and bhabhi. The trio shared the hug and started reeling from the loss.

"Bechari Akshara kitni badkismat hai. Uski zindagi mai maa ka pyar hai hi nhi. Pehle Naira, phir Sirat aur ab Manjari ji. Woh jisse bhi maa manti hai woh bhagwan ko pyara ho jata hai", said Surekha. Everybody looked at her with the angry face. Who is this women and why is she blabbering nonsensical stuff at this moment. Harsh wanted to throw this women out of this house but Anandvardhan Birla stopped him. He didn't want to create any drama here.

"Bhai sahab yeh lady jab se yha ayi hai tab se tamasha kr rhi hai. Isey dikh nhi rha hai ki humare bachon ki kya halat hai", said Harsh.

"Harsh, hum kisi ka much nhi rok sakte. Jise jo kehna hai kehne do. Tum kuch nhi karoge. Mai abhi iss waqt koi drama nhi chahta hoon", said Anand. Harsh begrudgingly agreed to his brother. 

"Humey ab antim vidhi ke liye chalna chahiye", the priest announced. 

"No, no, Abhi maa kahi nhi jayegi. We cannot take her anywhere. Mujhe bahut mushkil se maa mili hai mai unhe phir se nhi kho sakti hoon", shouted Akshara. She got up and held Manjari's hand tightly. "Mai maa ko kahi nhi jane doongi".

Abhi sat beside her and tried to calm her down. "Akshu maa hum sabko chod ke chali gyi hai. It is just her body, baba. Hum unhe humesha ke liye yha nhi rakh sakte", said Abhi.

"Par Abhi, maa", Akshara tried to speak but Abhi stopped her.

"Akshu, maa is no more with us. This is just her body nothing else. Aur maa toh humare dil mai, humari rooh mai hai unhe wha se koi nhi nikal sakta. Let her go Akshu. Let her go", said Abhi. He removed Akshara's hand from Manjari's. They finally let Manjari go. They cannot hold her anymore.

All the family members make a semicircle and took Manjari's body for the final rite - the cremation. Since, Manjari is divorced it is the duty of Abhimanyu to cremate his mother. The priest handed him the burning log.

"Neil, Akshu", Abhi called both of them. "Woh jitni meri maa thi utni hi tum dono ki bhi maa thi. Aaj hum maa se yeh promise krte hai ki hum humesha ek doosre ke sath rahenge. We will always have each other's back. Mai humesha tum dono ka khyal rakhoonga", said Abhi. He looked at Akshara and Neil and then to his mother for the one last time and promised her that he will always take care of them.

"Yes, bhai. Mai humesha aap dono ke sath hoon. Maa, I promise I will always with be bhai and bhabhi", promised Neil. 

The trio gave the final agni to Manjari. Akshara cannot stand on her own. Abhi and Neil held her tightly. Tears were continuously flowing from their eyes while giving the final goodbye to their mother.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N So, tell me do you like this version. There will be no separation, no divorce, no blame game. This time it will be the family who stand together and be each other's strength in this hard times. I hope you guys will like it, because there won't be any drama as many of you expected.

P.S. Aarohi is not pregnant in this fic.Only Akshara is. I want to show Akshara's whole pregnancy journey in this. I want to show how Birla's take care of Akshara during this harsh times.